After 7 years, the X5 is gone!
 

Well after 7 years with my X5, I said goodbye over the weekend! It had been relatively good to me without anything TOO crazy that went wrong with it, but with 110,000 miles on it and little occassional signs of pending parts failures I decided it was time. I backed up my driveway a few weeks ago and smelled burnt transmission fluid and then all I could think about is replacing it. I also had a little laundry list of things I needed to do soon like suspension stuff, window regulators, tail lights, cooling system, etc. and after adding it all up it didn't make sense for me to invest that kind of money into an 11 year old vehicle. It was still sad though, and my friends were totally shocked when I told them how old it was because it was so clean. Not exaggerating when I say people literally thought it was 2-3 years old!

So I moved onto a little less exciting ride, but infinitely more practical for me and has tons more technology and efficiency. I looked into the new 328, the A4, the S60, and the IS, but I ended up going with an Acura TSX with technology package. I got an incredibly good deal on it, and they gave me far more than I anticipated on my trade in for the X5.

Anyways, here's a final parting shot from the day I drove the different cars along with some fun pictures from adventures in the X, and two of the new ride too.

A neighbor has a 2011 A TSX...nice car, well done, a bit bland for my taste, but he loves it.
I know the 'day' will come, some year, when I kick our X down the street...glad its been good to you, and cool pics on its last 'run around the block'.
GL, mD

Thanks mD! I have to agree it isn't quite what I'm used to either. My last few cars have been: Honda S2000, Audi TT, Audi A6 4.2, Audi A6 Avant, Audi S4, built Jeep CJ5, built Jeep XJ, etc. so the Acura definitely feels a little out of place in the lineup. I am focusing on work and grad school stuff for the next 2 years so I figured that something efficient and reliable and inexpensive will work nicely until I'm ready to get back into something more exciting. At the rate of which cars are advancing there will be a whole new set of cool vehicles to choose from when I'm in the position to buy again!

congrats on the new car. probably double mpg and half the maintenance.

care to share how much the X5 credited you?

Best of luck in your studies man.

Good luck Vegas and nice choice on the new ride!

My last Honda was amazing in performance and reliability. I'm headed back in that direction at the end of the year when it comes time to say good bye to the X. Its getting too expensive now and my new job demands that I travel to and fro so I need something more reliable as my X looks new but feels old and things just keep on breaking.

Congrats on the new ride! I am sure you got a ton of goodies with the tech. package.

Did you drive the new 328i? If so, what did you think of it?

Sure - the specs on my X were: 2001, 4.4i, non-sport, comfort seats, PDC, DSP, non-nav, premium wheels. It had a minor accident on the CarFax (although there was no damage to my car and I was not at fault, a collision was still reported) which really diminishes the value. It had just rolled over 114,000 miles and although it was cosmetically phenomenal, it did have an SES light on (was going to get in serviced Saturday morning) and needed new tail light housings.

All that considered, I was really only expecting around $5k based on blackbook and auction prices. I was very pleased when they offered to take it in as-is for $7,500, considering if I wanted to sell it outright I would have had to put several hundred into it and then deal with the hassle. They also offered me an additional $1500 from Acura Financial to bump it up more, and they came down on the sales price of the TSX by nearly $3k. Overall from a financial standpoint, they made a very solid offer. With a MF that was around .00064 and a 58% residual, it really made the decision easy. I drove it Thursday night, got some numbers, left, then Friday emailed back and forth a little bit, and picked it up Friday after work taking about 20 minutes total, so it was a very efficient and painless process as well!

Thanks for the well wishes! I appreciate everyone's kind words - it's been enjoyable to participate here!

I actually did not drive the 328.. I had a budget that I knew would be totally compromised if I did drive it because I knew I would want it! It's an incredible car with great specs, but when you load it up at all it gets close to $50k quick. That's ~$20k more than what I spent but I still upgraded big time in terms of tech and mpg, and I'll be in a better position in 2-3 years to make a much more fun purchase. With the rate of how quickly cars are advancing, there's going to be a lot of great vehicles to choose from in 3 years!

Agreed. I have built a few online and have been hard pressed to keep it under $45k. It would be even harder if the M-Sport package was offered yet. At that price there are slightly worn e90 M3's out there...